Last Friday President Trump issued an executive order suspending entry into the United States from seven nations (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen). For six of the seven countries the suspension will last 4 months; for Syria it will last indefinitely.
This created chaos on an epic scale. In a tweet on Monday President Trump claimed that only 109 people were detained out of 325,000. Like many of his claims, this was blatantly untrue. An excellent article in the Washington Post estimates the number at about 90,000. You can read about this here but some travelers were blocked from boarding planes, others were detained once arriving on U.S. soil.
This order covered anyone coming from these countries, regardless of their status. Some had travel visas, others had student visas, some were refugees, and some had “green cards” (non citizens who are here legally and can work here). Eventually those who had green cards were allowed in.
President Trump insists he did this to prevent terrorists from entering the United States (like the terrorists from 9/11) and the four month delay allows “extreme vetting.” But refugees come here only after incredible vetting. Right now it takes between 18 and 24 months. Several people endured this process and were on the verge of finally coming here when they were stopped by this executive order.
So President Trump, here’s my question: If these people spent 1 1/2 to 2 years being vetted, and we’re convinced they pose no threat, what do you expect to learn in the next 120 days?